For A World That Shows Depraved Indifference

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Monthly Archives: June 2017

It’s a terrible story to occur this past Father’s Day but one I feel should be shared. Michael Marchalk is 37 years and the adult son of Gary Marchalk. The thing to know before we move forward is that Michael is a drug addict. I think we are all familiar with the story of an addict who can’t get past his vices and takes it out on those he/she loves. Well, Michael took it out on Gary, on Father’s Day with a baseball bat…killing his father so that he could attempt to steal money for his habit. He murdered his father, stole his wallet and car, all before he was supposed to enter a rehab facility the next day.

Michael was on the run for approximately five days when he as apprehended on the Atlantic City boardwalk. He is being charged with murder, manslaughter, robbery, theft, access device fraud and possessing instruments of crime.

Can we stop with these exorcisms? First it was the Walmart Parking lots and now it’s on a remote sandy beach, but parents thinking they can “release their child’s demons” seems like one part mental illness and another part over-active imagination.

Kimberly Felder took her eleven year old daughter to a remote beach (Centerville, CA) and proceeded to strip her, bite her, beat her with drift wood, and push sand into every orifice on her face. She was trying to rid the girl o her ‘demons’. Authorities say that in all likelihood she would have killed her daughter had it not been for a Good Samaritan who inserted himself into the situation.

John Marciel (pictured above) happened to witness the commotion and literally grappled with the mother, while on 911, to save the girl’s life. That my friends is being a hero. No matter how you slice it. According to the girl, several passer byes just ignore her screams for help, and they would have been morally responsible for her death.

I don’t think there’s much doubt in anyone who reads this story that Ms. Felder was out of her right mind. No sane person would act this way. There are several stories like this one that suggest some form of mental illness in play. But assuredly there were tell-tale signs to others before this event happened. How could it have been prevented?